BRDF surface reflectance using LIGHTEC Minidiff V2 for Game Engines

This thesis investigates the possibility of using measured reflectance data of real materials to simulate the illumination of surfaces in Unity and Unreal Engine game engines in order to achieve realistic appearance of 3D objects in computer games. First, the physical aspects of BRDF are described and existing analytical models of BRDF are categorized. Then, some BRDF data storage formats are discussed, the MiniDiff v2 measuring instrument from Synopsys (formerly Lightec) and the sample measurement process are described. As a result of the work, 217 samples have been measured, an application has been developed to process and export the measured BRDF data, short videos of BRDF visualizations and shaders implemented in the Unity and Unreal Engine game engines.